Tension-adjusting device for railway-signals



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TENSION ADJUSTING DEVICE FOR RAILWAY SIGNALS- No. 520,397. I PatentedMay 22, 1894.

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JAMES T. HAMBAY, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

TENSION-ADJUSTING DEVICE FOR RAlLWAY-SIGNALS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 520,397, dated May 22,1894. Application filed May 12, 1893. Serial No. 473,996- lllo model.)

To coZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES T. HAMBAY, of Boston, in the county ofSuffolkand State of Massachusetts, have inventeda new and useful Improvement inTension-Adjusting Devices for RailwaySignals, of which the following,taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification.

My invention relates to that class of railway signals in which longlinesof chain, wire, rods, or combinationsof the same, are used,

. and in which the expansion and contraction due to change oftemperature materially interfere with the proper working of the signals,the object being to provide a device which is always Within reach of theoperator, and easily manipulated, by which the said operator may,without leaving his post, adjust the lengths of the chains, wire, orrods, so as to bring upon them the exact tension required for the bestworking of the same. This object I attain by the mechanism shown in theaccompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is a view in elevation (butshowing some of the minor parts in vertical section) of a signal leverand its connecting parts, with my device attached to it. Fig. 2 is aView, partly in elevation and partly in vertical section, showing someof the details of my invention. Fig. 3 shows a device for guiding thechains or Wire rope, and is intended to be made fast to the lower partof the main lever. Fig. 4 isaview partly is horizontal section andpartly in plan illustrating details. Fig. 5 is a sectional view, takenon line yy of Fig. 1, showing in detail one of the guide blocks whichare attached to the lower ends of the lever, the function of theseblocks being to form guides or sheaves for the chains to pass through.

To properly understand the nature and use of my invention, it isnecessary to describe some of the parts in common use in conn ectionwith railway signals, which I will now proceed to do. y

A, Fig. 1,represents a casting, usually called a plate or leg, to whichthe operating parts are attached, and by which they are firmly held.

B represents the main lever, which is curved at its lower end so as toform the branch B, and is firmly bolted, or otherwise made fast, to theshoe E, the shoe E being pivoted at C, so that the lever is free toswing back and forth.

D is an arm, also firmly bolted or otherwise attached to the shoe E, andof course moves With the lever B and the branch B.

K is a quadrant piece, firmly bolted to the top plate A, as shown. Thisquadrant piece has notches with which the end of the latchrod H mayengage, and thus hold the lever in any desired position. The rod N beinglocated at the edge of the lever B, it is necessary to cut a smallgroove in the stop or buttress at the end of the quadrant piece K asshown by dotted lines 70.

K is a rocker piece, pivoted at K.

. H is a shoe, bolted to the lever B, and forms a guide for thelatch-rod H and also a holding socket for the spring H H is a smallhandlever, pivoted to the main lever B, and serves to operate thelatch-rod H.

The parts thus briefly described above are old, and form no part of myinvention.

Nowl will describe the parts that I consider new, and of my invention.

M and,,L represent two chains or ropes, L being usually termed the backconnection and M the front connection. These chains pass through theblocks B B which act as guides or sheaves, the blocks being located asshown, at the terminals of the branches B and D of the lever B. Acrosssection of one of the blocks B B is shown in Fig. 5, and is made asshown, so that it may be firmly clamped by the bolt 1) to'the branch Bor D. The chains M and L, after passing through the blocks B B arebrought together and united, as shown at B and are connected by a ringor hook B to the adjustingrod N. Before connecting with the rod N, theypass through a guiding block 13 shown in Fig. 1, and also shown enlargedin Fig. 3. This block is made with two branches, which are adapted toembrace the lever B, and by which, with the aid of the bolt 0, it isfirmly clamped to the said lever. The rod N,Figs. 1 and 2, is

l l l l attached to the rack P; this rack P slides in a housing R, whichis firmly bolted to the lever B (see Figs. 1,2, and 4:).

P is a pinion formed on the shaft R (see Figs. 2 and 4); this shaft R issquared at R (Fig. 4:) so as to receive a wrench or key, by means ofwhich it may be turned.

R is a catch pawl, adapted to engage with and lock the pinion P, so asto firmly hold the rack P and the rod N iii any desired position.

The operation of my device is as follows: When the operator, in theexamination of his apparatus, finds that the tension on the chains IWIand L, on account of the low prevailing temperature, is too great, hecan place his wrench upon the squared end of the pinion shaft R, andafter withdrawing the catchpawl R allow the rack P to descend; this,acting through the rod N, will slack up the chains Land M, until theirtension is adjusted to the best working of the signal device. If, on thecontrary, the operator finds that, on account of high temperature, thechains are too-slack, then he turns the pinion shaft R until he hasdrawn. up the rack P and rod N sufficiently to increase the tension onthe chains L and M to the desired degree.

The tension adjusting device that I have chosen for illustration is notin itself an indispensable feature of my invention.

In some cases but one of the chains L, M, may be required,a weight orspring being substituted for the omitted chain.

I claim- 1. In a signal device the combination of the main operatinglever and the front and back chains, wires, or rods: with mechanismadapted to adjust, by one operation, both of the said front and backchains, wires, or rods, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. In asignal device, the combination of the main lever B having abranch B and block B with chain M, block B rod N and a tensionadjustingmechanism, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

3. In a signal device, the combination of the main lever B, havingbranches 3 D, blocks 13 and B and chains M and L: with block 13, rod Nand an adjusting mechanism, substantially as and for the purpose setforth.

JAMES T. HAMBAY.

Witnesses:

FRANK G. PARKER, WILLIAM EDsoN.

